Extinction/Chapter 4
The Men of No Nation is the fourth chapter of Extinction and fourth part of Volume 1. It was released May 30th, 2016. After a farewell to his city, Conner begins his journey to the rumored zone in Florida for his own gain, whilst also bringing Ash with him, who is continuing to struggle with this new life without his father. The Men of No Nation "Hurt leads to bitterness, bitterness to anger, travel too far that road and the way is lost." - Terry Brooks ---- “Ash!” “ASH!” The words of his father are barely audible. Nothing was audible. Nothing except the gunshots and the flames anyway. Ash ran through his town of ruins, heart barely staying in his chest as his world collapses around him. This was always a recurring factor in the poor boy’s life: wherever he went death seemed to follow. He remembers his childhood home, his city of birth. His father and him were there for seven years, surrounded by loving friends. It was a good life, a safe life. That was the first to fall when, one day, men of immoral arrived. Josh scooped up his child and they’ve been running ever since. Next came another town. It was nice, secure, lovely. It didn’t stay up for long, however, as the monsters of the night invaded when a fool left the gate unlocked. Ash was forced under a table to hide as they invaded. He still remembers their screams for help as the monsters lunged at them, their retched teeth tearing them to pieces. As usual his father picked him up and ran. As his life demands he now runs through another fallen town. He’s older now, more experienced. Well, experienced in running your ass away, if that counts. Ash springs the town, doing his best to ignore the engulfed buildings around him. Their flames reach into the darkened sky, sticking the town out as a bright light in the darkness. The smoke does it’s best to stop the running child, but by putting his shirt over his nose, he doesn’t suffocate. His lack of vision is a problem, but the heat is the worse one. The boy feels as if he is running through the sun itself. “Dad!” Ash arrives at their burning cottage. “Dad! Where are you?!” Ash struggles to raise his voice over the chaos. The gunshots are getting closer, popping his ears into oblivion. He doesn’t know who these men are. He’s heard reports of strange sightings in the past few weeks but he was naive enough not to worry about them. Children are fools, he’d rather much focus on playing with his action figures and reading his collectable comics (which are probably ashes right now). It wasn’t until just under an hour ago when the gunshots broke out. The masked men rode on horseback, some with bows others with rifles, road through their town. They shot the innocents, they burned the buildings. They took no prisoners. As Ash shouted for his father he ran through the area. He saw familiar faces, each concentrated on fighting back the enemy, yet he could not find Josh. No, no, no. He’s not dead, he refuses to believe that. Josh would never give up. He always gets back up. Always. But where was he? Ash heard his voice through the chaotic fires, frantically searching for his only child. “Dad!” Ash screams once more, desperate to find the one man in his life. “Dad!!” Ash turned the dark corner, lit only by the light of flames. It was silent and filled with shadows, yet Ash saw a man through the flames. He paused, glancing at the mysterious silhouette, who in turn stared at the young boy. Both remained silent as the flame between them kept them separated. “Dad?” Ash looked at the stranger, their eyes briefly meeting through the smoke. It was than he could clearly tell this man was not his father. Within a mere moment the stranger lifts up his rifle, and with little remorse, pulls back on his trigger. The bullets travel through flames, nearly hitting the small child, whose last resort is to dive to the ground. Rolling under a still not burned hut, Ash desperately watched the gunman. For a moment he was still, as if he was taking in what he has just done. Bastard just tried to kill a kid--like damn man get a chill pill. He turned towards the not burned hut and it was then that Ash’s heart exploded from his chest. What if he checks under? What is Ash gonna do when he points a gun at him? Best Ash can do is make a puppy dog face--although he makes a damn good puppy dog face. Luckily the gunman ran back off into the night, no doubtedly ready to slay more innocents. He breathed a sigh of relief before rolling back into the chaos outside. Standing onto his feet, Ash’s panicked eyes took quick glances around him. All he saw was death. He kept his composure for the majority of it, but seeing poor old Mr. Carlye’s chest blown open from the gunshots….no boy needs to see this. He was a sweet old man, always collecting followers. His favorite an Iris, one that Ash found pretty himself. Ash remembers that he gave Ash one….probably burned by now. “Dad!” His hopeless shouts fail to rise above the chaos. Ash desperately scans the area to find any trace of his father. Nothing. Ash remains still as can be, his innocent eyes lost in a wave of darkness. Ash is no virgin to human nature, but even with that, he is a mere twelve year old. He can’t handle such an event. They’re closing in now. Shit. What is he gonna do? Ash can’t survive out there without his father; Josh is the only man he’s known his entire life. A constant in a world of expendables. He can’t just leave him but what else is there to do? His father’s words echo into his head: it isn’t about what you want but what you need to do. Ash sprints away from the fiery village, too afraid to look back at the chaos these devils leave. It takes all his strength to run away, still unable to accept that his father may be dead. With the fires of men wreaking havoc behind him, Ash runs into the wilderness ahead. He doesn’t know what lies ahead, but knowing what was behind him made the choice to trek through the uncharted land much easier. ---- Did you ever realize how boring the apocalypse was? Ash sure as hell has. Seriously there was nothing to do. Aside from the rare occasional action (which was rarer than what one would think), there was just walking….and counting supplies. The most fun from Ash’s day arrives when he runs down a street. Yes, this how much shit humanity has fallen into. Running is considered fun now. Let us repeat that, running is the most fun someone can have. The fat people must be praying to the Lord almighty they died first because hot damn they would hate this shit. Okay, maybe that statement was offensive. Josh would always tell Ash how earth was filled with evil social justice warriors who could be offended by a shirt. Good thing, according to Josh, their asses were torn apart by the infected. Maybe we should thank the infected for getting rid of the basic bitches; if infected weren’t into his flesh maybe Ash would bake them a cake. That is if he knew how to, which he doesn’t, considering that the world is severely out of cake ingredients. It’s on his bucket list though! And, being totally honest here, Ash taped his bucket list to an actual bucket. He loved that bucket. And then it fucking burned in a fire by masked men. If Ash was born prior to the outbreak he’d blame Obama. Damnit Barrack (what a funny name, to Ash) Obama. But yeah, moral of the story is that the apocalypse is boring. Aside from the fun game of running (damnit) other highlights include tieing his shoe, reading comics he finds, getting dressed, seeing how far his spit can go and thinking about parts of a female that he has no business thinking about. And yes he totally means boobs, two things he will probably never again see because fuck you too zombie apocalypse. Man he sure loses thoughts easily. He went from bored to boobs. But he’s an immature fifteen year old so granted his thoughts will always go back to boobs because boobs. Anyways back to the matter at hand….damnit hormones really mess with his thoughts. He probably shouldn’t think about boobs in a church. At least he thinks. He never really learned a lot about religion due to, you know, grrr zombies. But he knows that you should be respectful in places such as these. He sits in one of the pews, tapping his fingers against the broken wood as he awaits for Conner. He thinks about rereading one of his comic books. He has lots of them, of all different kinds. Action, drama, humor, stuff that isn’t really a comic but has boo--''damnit'' he did it again. His innocent laughter about his teenage ways soon fade away when his mind drifts back to the matter at hand. Conner Kilderry. Ash is a boy of optimism, having that naive hope in everybody and everything--but Conner even frightened him. The long undone hair and beard and crazy eyes really throw Ash off. Still, even with the physical appearances aside, Conner was a terrifying figure to Ash. A man of silence was one thing but being alone with Conner scares Ash. He’s so silent, still and compromised but is also so mentally unhinged that Ash feels as if Conner could snap at any moment. He’s gonna travel to Florida with this dude? Ash calms to repeat himself the damned words of the father. “Do what you need to do.” Ash is smart enough to admit when he needs help. No way can he survive on his own to Florida. Chances are he’d get himself killed by tripping into a zombie or shooting himself by accident. Bad shit tended to happen around Ash. However with this battle hardened survivor, who has probably done really messed up shit, is what Ash needs. Conner promised Ash that they’re going to leave today. First Conner had to deal with something. Ash had no clue what but considering Conner has been alone in this city for years…..probably something weird. ---- “I love you.” Conner’s hand runs down her face, his fingers trying not to scratch the face of a goddess. “I love you so much, my dear.” Their lips embrace, Conner giving her a passionate kiss. She practically falls into his arms, begging him to do more but time was not on his side. “Don’t leave me.” Ashley begs her husband. Her voice falters between seduction and begging. Oh, how beautiful did she look, though. Her glowing eyes, complete with eye liner, as her glowing lips shine through the light. He dreams that he could kiss her for the rest of his life. “I need you, Conner.” “I’m not leaving you.” Conner reassures her. He can’t leave his family, no. They’re with him. They kiss once more before Conner turns to the kids behind him. They barely notice him, to busy playing with their game board. Joseph was beating Vincent and, as usual, Vincent was frustrated. It was only a matter of time before they started fighting about it. Conner exits his wife’s embrace, instead taking the moment to scan his home one last time. This was it. The last day he will stand in his home. The home he helped forge from rundown house to family center. Everything in this house he had a part in putting here. The couch…...the now worn couch that was once a beautiful sight; of course it is still one to Conner. His hand reaches down to feel the leather one last time. A part of him is afraid to leave. A world outside his fantasies? It’s not a world he is willing to embrace. For the past year he has been convinced that he was the last man on earth. He was already proven wrong by the existence of Ash and his father but now there is out there? It was a mad world. Conner’s eye lands on one last thing in the home. One last reminder of the life before. The cracked portrait. He remembers leaving it here a few weeks back but now seeing it again….oh how the emotions flow into the man. Regret, joy, depression, anger. Conner was an oil field tapped with riches. He lifts up the portrait, his genuine smile growing as he looks at his family. Ashley, Vincent, Joseph… all smiling angels. Too perfect for this world of devils. Conner finds himself landing a kiss on the portrait, the emotion too great for him to handle. Conner remembers the day the photo was taken. Ashley couldn’t decide on a dress, Vincent and Joseph couldn’t stop fighting during the picture, Conner got so frustrated with them. Almost felt like flipping out. Funny how he wishes he could be back in that moment. He’d rather be frustrated with the living than loving with the dead. Conner knows it’s time to go now. He also knows that he should drop this picture, leaving it behind to prove his past doesn’t dictate him. He should drop the picture, accept their deaths and move on with his life. Hell, a part of him wants to do it. His hand shakes, his legs tremble and the fingers get moist. His phantoms watch with wide eyes, scared that they’re master may forget them. “Bro! The hell? You stop this shit right now.” Shane demands from the corner, his interest switching between Conner and the apple in his hands. “Don’t be a dick, lil bro. They’re your family. Why the hell would you forget them?” Memories…..memories are disgustful. In one instance one is lost in delights, with the joyful sounds of childhood, first love, exiting into the world, holding your first born for the first time… and then they drag you into the darkest pits of your mind. Dark, cold, damp, filled with the images you had prayed were mind forgotten. The deepest, scariest, most terrifying moments in your life that you prayed would die--or that they never happened at all. He goes to remember the first meeting of his blushing wife to be…...to holding her body in his arms. The mind is a demented thing. But where Conner be without such a mind? The mind, the memories, even the worst of the worst, are reality. Reality is reason. If he fails to accept reality than he fails to accept the reasoning of life. But who cares?! Are we as human beings tied down to reason and sanity? Are there people who force you to accept the world? What the hell is the problem if you don’t accept? Who are they to tell you what you can and not face? When a man finds himself on a train of unpleasant memories, whose destination are the memories in life where the screaming is unbearable, there are two tunnels. The first is a tunnel of pain that leads to acceptance, the greatest destination of them all. The second tunnel is one of depression and denial. Than, however, there is always the third option. The emergency exit. Sweet, beautiful madness. Conner can leap off the train car and watch in glee as his thoughts leave without him, effectively allowing him to shut the door on all of his damn dreadful life. He can let them drive away without him and let him be safe, free and happy! Madness is always the answer to this world! After all, why should Conner let one bad day guide his life forever? This epiphany came to Conner when his mind continued to flash back to that one day. Conner and Shane meet eyes. His hypnotic eyes trace Conner into putting the portrait into his bag, choosing tunnel two. He curses himself for getting in the wrong tunnel but does zero effort in trying to correct himself. Than again, why should he move on? Yeah, yeah, yeah! How dare he try to move on with his life? That would be crazy! Conner ain’t some loon. No, no, no, no! Taking in the view of his home for the last time Conner proceeds to exit the home, the phantoms of his life joining him on the endeavor. ---- The walk out of the city was brutal. Well, at least for Ash. Than again, exercise in general was a pain in the ass to Ash. Unfortunately the entire world is home to one long game of walking and sleeping, so Ash is always on the move. He really wishes he was born before all this. His father called it the “lazy era”, where people would just lay in their houses and all that. Sounds pretty freakin’ great. Not great is walking down a fallen highway with a grizzled old bastard. Not fun at all. The road ahead is but an empty path, save for the occasional cars buried by old flames. Trash was common but none of it useful. Even the dead bodies were empty and devoid of loot. Despite the road of emptiness, Ash was surrounded by the tall, uncut green grass and nature life. Without humanity the world of nature has grown. Ash watches as he pases by another flower. This one was yellow, a color he tended to associate with happiness. Was there ever such a thing as happiness? Ash once believed in the concept until life found him. Life, an entity that Josh told Ash to love, beat Ash down day by day with no rest. Some would have given in. Life failed to completely break little Ash, who at least had a sliver of hope in him. He wanted that hope to guide him but after all he’s seen...he doesn’t know what to follow. He wants to be happy but he’s suffered so much pain that he doesn’t know if he can be. “So…..” Ash attempts to start a conversation have Conner glare at him through the side of his eyes. “Where did you go earlier this morning?” “Is that any of your concern.” “Not really.” “Than fuck off.” “I’m just curious.” “And there are people who are curious to see what happens when you smash a kid’s skull in too.” “Sweet!” “The kid is you.” “Oh.” “And ‘they’ are the people who will find us if you keep yapping.” “The fuck?” “What?” “Yapping? Jesus, what decade is that from?” “Oh, I don’t know, maybe one before the world went to shit?” “Oh, that one. Never been there.” “No shit. You’re fucking ten.” “I’m fifteen!” “Did I give you the impression that I cared?” “How rude.” “Okay, Michelle.” “Who?” Conner looked as if he wanted to explain it to Ash--until he decide to become a dick again and just shake his old ass head. “Damn, k.” “Do you have an off button?” “Yeah.” “Where is it.” “Guess where?” “No. Jesus--no. You’re not gonna be that kid.” “Up--” “Stop.” “My--” “Don’t.” “Butt.” “I hate you.” “This is gonna be a fun road trip! Don’t you agree?” “No.” There was a brief pause before Ash decided to bother Conner again. “So where did you go?” “Oh, joy, back to this.” “Did you go on a secret mission?” “No.” “Did you go help a poor cat?” Conner paused for a second. “No.” “Have a side bitch?” “What?” “You know like…..put your thing into the other thing.” “What the--aren’t you ten?” “Fifteen!” “Same thing. Just don’t say shit like that again. I’m sure as hell not having that talk with you.” “You mean the birds and the bees?” “Jesus Christ.” “Wanna hear a joke?” “Let me guess you’re gonna say balls.” “No.” “Surprise surprise.” “I was gonna say penis.” The annoyance in Conner’s face was a success for Ash. “You seem bothered by the male anatomy.” “No. I’m bothered by you.” “I mean, I get it. Performance issues are common for a man of your age.” Conner was silent, as if he had enough of Ash’s bullshit. “Aren’t you like 80?” “No.” “70s?” “No.” “60s” “Jesus Christ, I said no!” “50s?” “No.” “Was I cold, warm or hot?” “Neither.” “What was I?” “Fucking annoying.” “That offends me.” “You’re presence is making me want to shoot myself.” “I’m honored!” “Kid!” Conner turns around, his gloved hand gripping Ash by the coat collar. Conner was a physically fit man, able to lift Ash off the ground without so much as trying. “You need to grow up.” Ash was about to say something before Conner got into his face once again. “Listen to me! I’m in charge here. If you want to survive you are gonna listen to every word I said. We agreed on this.” “Indeed we did.” “Than listen closely. You are going to be quiet. You will not talk to me. You will not speak unless spoken too. Got it?” Ash wanted to protest. Conner had to have been the biggest killjoy he has ever met; not the type of people Ash liked to associate himself with. Why couldn’t Conner be, like, normal? Ash cancelled any thoughts of protest when he saw into the mad man’s eyes. The eyes of madness. When Ash looked into them it was if he looked into an endless pit of despair, a place where the suffering is so unbearable that his mind snapped. Ash saw no sense of humanity or life. No, he saw death. He saw violence. He saw the worst of what mankind has to offer. He saw madness. He saw the devil. Trapped in the hands of the devil, Ash was forced to reexamine his situation. “I got it.” Ash muttered, which was enough for Conner to drop him on his ass. Ash scrambled onto his feet, sending his way to the oblivious Conner, who was already focused onto the road. He wondered what it took to turn men into devils. Did it happen over time, were people born like that? Was it all just one bad day? Ash had his own slew of bad days. He remembers his first truly horrible day: the day his mother died. Also known as his birthday. Josh rarely spoke about it, nor did Ash ever want to ask. Ash killed her when he came out of the womb. It was completely out of his hands but Ash still felt guilt over the incident. A guilt he has carried throughout his whole life. The boy who killed his mother, the boy who killed his father’s love. Ash knew that Josh blamed him too, even if his father never admitted it. Ash always wondered what life would be like if she survived. The next bad day came when his first safe-zone fell. It was the one he was in for the longest. He had grew attached to the zone, more so to the people there. He remembers how much he loved his babysitters. He doesn’t remember too much of them, not even their names, but they loved him. They were very helpful when it came to raising the young Ash. Ash was only there for a few of his early years before a group of enemies knocked it to the ground. His next truly horrible day was the day he met…...no, he refuses to speak his name. He was a devil, even more than Conner. And the last was when he lossed Josh, the greatest man he will ever know. He feels completely empty without Josh. A piece of his soul has fallen off and will never be put back into place due to his passing. Josh has always been there for the young boy, guiding him through the sea of hopelessness. His smile was all Ash needed to know that, no matter how dark the would be, he would always have Josh; and with Josh, there would always be hope. Josh was the only man to truly have ever known and get to understand Ash. He was Ash’s best friend. And then Ash got him bitten. Ash has tried to forget that it was his fault but the guilt stays with him. It was a dark night, darker than most others. Ash, being the impulsive child he is, had one of his only fights with Josh due to the feeling that Josh was sheltering him. Every child feels this once in their lives. That their parent is sheltering him too much and trying to control his life. Ash failed to realize that this was the apocalypse and only focused on what he wanted: independence. So Ash tried to prove himself. Josh spoke about how they needed supplies and Ash knew of a store nearby. He grabbed himself a flashlight and weapon before departing into the night. The sleeping Josh caught wind and chased after Ash, but by this point Ash was already causing trouble in the store. A few infected caught wind and Ash failed to defeat them. Josh stepped in, defending his son from the infected. He was doing well, bashing their heads in until one crawled up behind him. There went a chunk of his heel. Soon after Josh died and Ash didn’t even get a proper goodbye. Ash’s days have been nothing but violence, death and failure. Hell, his whole life is defined by those three things. So why hasn’t he been driven crazy? Why is Ash a happy, hopeful young man? Actually, what if that makes him crazy? Despite all the bad events in his life Ash is still naive and happy. Is he insane? So insane that he doesn’t even know it? No, he can’t be crazy, right? Ash tries not to think about the thought, but the very idea of it itches away at his mind. Is he as every bit as insane as the monster known as Conner? No, he can’t be. Ash, unlike Conner or he who must not be spoken, Ash has one thing they have lost long ago: humanity. He has morals, he believes in people. He won’t let his pain push him down the road of madness. Those traits alone are rare in this wasteland. Josh taught him to hold onto humanity and to always see people as what they are: people. Not targets, not enemies, not savages. Just people. So Ash takes a small breath, taking back what he said about Conner. He’s just scared and nervous, he doesn’t really believe that Conner is the devil. There has to be some sort of humanity in Conner or he would have never offered to help Ash. That doesn’t mean Ash completely trusts him. Ash is willing to see good in Conner, but he isn’t a naive fool. He is smart enough to know that Conner is not a good man overall and he should be weary of him. Speak softly, but carry a big stick. Ash has his stick. He has a knife and he has a gun. If Conner tries anything fast than Ash is ready to do what is necessary, or at least he hopes he is. He still remembers Josh’s words. “Trust people. But if they mess with you, than my son, keep that gun loaded and do what is necessary. Don’t hesitate, because they won’t.” It all goes back to the simple philosophy. It’s not about what Ash wants, but what he needs to do. ---- It’s been a long time since Conner has left the city. So long that he has nearly forgotten what the outside world has looked like. It’s much more empty and quiet than the city. No flooded streets, no hordes of infected hiding in the dark, no crumpled buildings. Just the trees, the sky, the ground and the road ahead. An empty road for an empty man. As night approached, Conner made camp at the side of the road, near an old pickup truck. It wasn’t the best of campsites but it would do. They would sleep inside the car, and until then, had a small fire to keep them warm. Small enough so that the smoke can’t be seen, but warm enough to their satisfactions. For his first day outside of the city, it was pretty tame. They encountered no infected, no humans, and barely any supplies. Just walking and barely any talking aside from the few minutes where Ash couldn’t seem to shut up. Now, they sit in the dark, waiting to continue the same routine tomorrow. Ash sits in the old truck, doing something with a book, while Conner sits outside. He stares off into the darkness of night, wondering if it is staring back at him. “What are you looking for?” Shane asks next to him. “A brothel? I could use one.” Conner remains silent to Shane, much to his displeasure. “Trying to ignore me again? Is this a fucking routine now? You ignore me, I try to save you. Round and round we go, our infinite loop of insanity!” Shane leans closer to the fire, smiling with glee as the flames touch his palm. The pain, oh the sweet pain. “Why are you here? I agreed to your plan.” “Your plan, fixed that for you. And I didn’t want you to be alone. I’m just being considerate.” Shane turns towards the truck, watching as Ash sits in there. “What do you think of him?” “He’s annoying.” “He’s a fucking bitch. Jesus, if you would have let me I would have stabbed him already.” Shane turns back to Conner, smirking as Conner tries his best to ignore Shane. “Do you ever get tired of this game?” “What game?” “Us! Me, you! Our insanity!” “I’m not--” “Why do you lie?! It boggles my mind. I’m just trying to help you, brother. I’m trying to show you just how well I know you. I understand just how you feel.” “Do you now?” “Yes, I do! Don’t you see?” Shane moves over to Conner, sticking his arm out to embrace his brother. “We are two of a kind. You’re the ying to my yang. Without you I’d be dead, and without me you would be alone. Yet, for some odd reason, we are fated to battle. We’re opposites but we’re the same. I try to make you give in to the madness, while you try to fight it.” “I’m never giving in.” “If that were true I wouldn’t be here! If you truly were sane you would have wished me away years ago. But here I am! I am here, brother, and what would you do without me? I’m you’re only friend! Face it, Conner, you’d be lost without me! Because I’m the only one who gets you. You, like myself, had a bad day and this day has changed you. You can never go back to life before this day. But you deny that fact, because if you were to accept it than your life would have no value.” Conner remains silent whilst Shane hugs his brother. “But, brother, that simply isn’t true! Let me help you! Stop with this bullshit. Accept you’re madness, give into it. Let me take over! Together me and you can survive this wasteland. I only want to help you, brother. Let me.” Shane looks into his brother’s eyes. So much pain, so much suffering, so much guilt. If Conner just let Shane take over he would have none of those emotions. The human side of him is what ties him down. With madness, however, Shane has none of that. He is free! Still, for some reason, Conner is to prideful to admit this. So instead he scoffs Shane away. Shane expected this but is still disappointed. “One of these days I will free you, brother. I’m gonna replace that frown with a big smile!” As Shane jumps into the air with glee, Conner closes his eyes once again to block him out. By the time he opens them Shane is gone. Conner knows he will return soon--until then, peace at last. An infinite loop of insanity. Conner moves Shane off of his mind, wanting to focus his mind on what matters in the moment. Survival. His twenty years has given him the experience he needs in surviving. He can scavenge, he can hunt, he can craft and he can sure as hell kill. Still, it’s been years since his last journey out of the city. Has the world changed? If there is one thing he is sure of is that there are horrible people out there. Men who will take pleasure in torturing Conner. There are no allies or known safe zones Conner can stop to for protection. They are all the men of no nation, each out in the world for their own survival. The people with this mindset are dangerous individuals. Luckily for Conner he isn’t an easy bastard to take down. He’ll kill anyone who stands in his way. Stand in his way of what? Conner knows why he accepted this mission. His plan is to rob the safe-zone, only using Ash as cover. It’s a totally insane plan. Probably the most insane plan that Conner has ever come up with. So Conner wonders why he is doing this. A part of him wonders if he took this own as a suicide mission, another wonders if he just wants to be in the safe zone, and one even wondering if Conner did it because he actually wants to protect Ash. It’s sad, really. Conner’s mindset is so out of whack that he can’t even explain his own actions or motivations. He couldn't even tell someone who he is anymore. He stopped feeling human a long time ago, he knows that much. Tired of his constant brooding and mind games, Conner decides to go in for the night. Standing to his feet, Conner uses the safety of his boots to kick out the fire. The roaring fire soon disappears into a whimper, leaving Conner alone in the dark night, not a single light around him. After a quick glance around the area, making damn sure nothing unpleasant is watching, Conner makes his way to the truck. Good to sleep in, but it’s way past its time to actually be driven. Conner sits in the truck’s back seats, whilst Ash sits in the front. No words are spoken between the two, although Conner can practically see Ash trying not to blurt out words. The air is bitter silence between the two, with Ash mostly focusing on his little project. Needless to say it interests Conner. Conner glances at the books in Ash’s hands, one a formal book while the other is a notebook. “What are you doing?” Conner questions the young lad, who turns towards him with a smile. “Reading.” “Reading? Really?” “Yeah.” “Kid, the world fucking ended.” “So?” “Who the hell cares about reading?” “I do.” “Why?” Ash closes both his books, turning back towards the cynical old man. “Dad always wanted me to read and write. He did his best to teach me. So I like to expand those skills. I read books, write stories--” “You write stories?” “Yeah! You ever write stories? Pretty fun!” “Sorry to break it to you, kid, but that ain’t gonna get you nowhere. Especially now.” “I can still do it for fun.” “Fun? Kid it’s the--” “Yeah, yeah. ‘Fucking apocalypse’. I get it.” Ash won’t let Conner mock him so easily. “My dad said that the world is gonna be back to normal one day. When it is I’m gonna need these skills.” Conner sits for a moment, taking in Ash’s words. The kid’s hopeful, naive and sassy -- how the hell this kid is still alive is beyond him. “The world’s not gonna go back to normal. This is it. Accept it.” Conner is an expert in tearing down dreams, especially those of children. What a stand up guy! Tired of dealing with Conner’s bullshit, Ash turns back around to continue writing. Conner stares blankly for a moment before laying down, ready to drift asleep. “Jackass.” He heard the words muttered out of Ash’s mouth. The kid actually makes Conner genuinely smirk that time. ---- He ran. Oh, how he ran so far away. Ash stopped hearing the gunfire long ago. He escaped into unfamiliar territory long ago. Yet the child still runs, with no intention of slowing down. He wants to cry, break down into a wreck of a boy over the tragedies he just experienced. He wants to grab a gun and go on the ultimate suicide, taking those bastards down with him. He doesn’t know what to do. He’s not a trained survivor. Hell, he’s not even a grown man. He is only a mere boy. What can he do? He has nowhere to go, no supplies and barely knows what to do on his own. He’ll probably be dead by morning. Ash figures he should just sit down to cry out his rage until the infected found him. Or, if he wanted a simpler death, he can go find a tall place to jump off. The sad thing is that a part of Ash thinks is the right thing to do. Luckily he reminds himself otherwise. He can’t give into those feelings of despair and anger. Josh raised him better than that. He needs to be strong, for both his sake and Josh’s memory. Ash can do this, right? Yeah, yeah he can. He just needs to find shelter and wait out the night. Once he gets some water and food he can circle back to the zone and attempt to find Josh. Granted, before he does that he needs to find out where the hell he is. He is in a forest environment, surrounded by overgrown nature. He’d usually stop to take in its beauty if he weren’t in such a dire situation. Ash scrambles around the forest in hopes of finding any clues of where he is. Aside from leaves, sticks and bushes he found nothing. “Alright, game plan.” Ash tries to encourage himself. “You got this. You got this.” He does his best to keep his spirits up but it isn’t an easy job to do. As Ash scrambles around he heard a noise. In more specific terms he heard a stick snap. Ash pauses in the stroke of fear, every nerve in his body paralyzed. He listens and moves his eyes, trying to find where the intruder was. He thought maybe he was overreacting until he heard another snap behind him. Ash turned to find a hooded individual. The boy of twelve acted quickly. He refused the urge to piss his pants and ran past the stalker, making his way backwards into the dark forest. The hooded person follows, quickly matching Ash’s speed. Ash’s attempts to escape were futile for another hooded person appeared, this time directly in front of Ash. He tried to run around him but the person stuck his arm out, smacking Ash directly in the face. In an instance Ash tumbled down a nearby hill, hitting multiple branches until his head finally smacked a rock directly. He tried pulling himself onto his feet but the hooded men were already there, kicking the boy back on the dirt. He didn’t realize until this minute that these hooded men were no men. They were his height, his weight and barely had any arm hair. They were boys. Boys who were definitely not with the group who attacked the zone. “What do we do with him?” One of the boys surveyed Ash, who has now reached the point of tears. “He’s crying.” “Jesus. Should we just kill him?” “No! He wouldn’t approve of that.” The boy kneeled down, wiping away the blood from Ash’s face, as if he felt some sort of sympathy for him. “Let’s take him to the Father.” ---- |next = }} Category:Extinction Category:Extinction Chapters Category:Issues